What they’re saying at the GOP convention

“Barack Obama has gone from Messiah to mess.” — Land Commissioner Jerry Pattererson on how the president is a drag on Democratic campaigns around the nation.

“We are not buying your liberal Kool-Aid, so you can keep the change.” — Cathie Adams, chairwoman of the state Republican Party, to Obama

“The world will be right when the Pope is a Texan.” — Rick Perry, speculating on the future prospects of Archbishop Jose Gomez, who recently left San Antonio to head the Los Angeles diocese

“One thing the Democrats don’t understand is that we all emit carbon dioxide when we open our mouths. I’d like to regulate some of them when they speak.” — Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples, on Democratic efforts to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions